When users initiate an update for an Android app, the operating system temporarily freezes the app to ensure stability during the transition. This precaution is vital; if an app were to access changing code or resources, it could lead to significant issues. While many updates are swift, some can take several seconds, rendering the app unusable and potentially impacting other applications that rely on it. In response to this challenge, Google has introduced a noteworthy enhancement in Android 16 aimed at streamlining this experience.
Seamless App Updates
The newly introduced feature, known as seamless app updates, dramatically reduces the duration an app remains frozen during an update, cutting the time from several seconds down to mere milliseconds. This enhancement is particularly beneficial for larger, more complex, or system-critical applications that typically require longer update periods.
To facilitate this improvement, Google has adjusted the timing of when the Android operating system executes its dexopt and dex2oat scripts. These scripts play a crucial role in Android’s Ahead-of-Time (AOT) compilation process, which enhances app performance by converting an app’s DEX bytecode into native machine code prior to launch. This preemptive translation eliminates the delays associated with interpreting code on the fly or utilizing Just-In-Time (JIT) compilation, resulting in faster startup and execution times.
In the latest iteration of Android, these optimization scripts are now executed during an earlier phase of the installation process. Previously, the optimizations took place while the app was frozen, extending the period of unavailability. By shifting this process to an earlier stage, the app only needs to pause briefly to replace old files with the newly optimized versions.
While Google’s release notes provided limited information, the implications of this change are promising. The enhancement arrives at a time when the Play Store is also capable of supporting simultaneous app updates, making it a timely improvement. Although seamless app updates may not be the headline feature of Android 16, it represents a significant quality-of-life enhancement that stands to benefit all Android devices, extending beyond just Pixel models.
